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English

Philosophy

Our aim is for all children to master learning skills that bring a love of learning, achievement, confidence and independence, in order for them to be the designers of their future. We will work with our partners to learn, develop and improve. The Shade and its community will encourage a caring and respectful attitude, take pride in our roots and celebrate our successes.

Aims

The overarching aim for English in the National Curriculum is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written language, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment.

The National Curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:

read easily, fluently and with good understanding

develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information

acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language

appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage

write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences

use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas

are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate

Reading

We strive to give children a strong foundation and to develop a lifelong love of reading.

Reading allows children to both acquire knowledge and to build on that they already know. As children develop their skills they are able to read both for pleasure and for information. Children are supported in developing their reading skills through the explicit teaching of phonics as well as other reading strategies.

Daily phonics sessions are conducted in Reception and Key Stage 1. We use 'Letters and Sounds' as a basis for our teaching and use elements of Jolly Phonics to support learning. Children in Y1 take part in the Phonics screening check during the Summer term. Children who require further support will undertake the screening check again in Year 2.

Children are supported in developing their reading skills through the use of high quality fiction and non-fiction texts, covering a wide range of genres.

The teaching of reading is developed through a range of high quality texts, these have been carefully chosen through our core reading spine. These texts have been specially chosen to offer challenge and enjoyment as well as a range of authors and genres. Reading in KS2 is delivered through high quality teaching every day for half an hour.

In KS1 children have access to Bug Club and Big Cat reading schemes which start in Reception. The books are spilt into colour bands and then further into Reading Recovery Levels to ensure that every book a child reads is precisely matched to their individual needs. These children are heard to read at least once a week.

Children in Reception and Key Stage 1 also have the opportunity to access e-books online through the Bug Club website.